Paper+GTD+Things

01-17-2011, 06:09 PM

I thought I'd mention a new capture method I've started since the beginning of the year. I've taken the basic principles and Journal layout of Action Method and tailored it to my specific needs. In the end while I like the Behance Books, I wanted a little more detail to be available to me on the page, so I decided to go ahead and design and make my own little GTD Books.

So now what does this mean for Things you might ask? Well, I take a lot of paper notes, and while they are of value, they are always all over the place. So now, with the hand made books I can have a standardized note taking format before I enter my Tasks into Things.

I love capturing on the desktop, but I find that when I do my processing on paper, I am so much more focused. I am no longer distracted by Facebook, Engadget, Cultured Code, and all the other sites I find myself wasting time on. On paper, I just focus, process and define. I then move the tasks directly into Things.

The only down-side I can see is the one-dimensional nature of the tasks system - i.e. tasks can't be categorised by context or other dimensions. But as a student, I can really see this approach/layout working well for tacking a defined project like an assignment.

I guess your page layout could simply be drawn out by hand into a Moleskine notebook or similar, but I really love your PDF design - just a shame I only have a monotone laser printer!

The only down-side I can see is the one-dimensional nature of the tasks system - i.e. tasks can't be categorised by context or other dimensions. But as a student, I can really see this approach/layout working well for tacking a defined project like an assignment.

I guess your page layout could simply be drawn out by hand into a Moleskine notebook or similar, but I really love your PDF design - just a shame I only have a monotone laser printer!

Thanks for checking it out. For me the notebook isn't about being able to categorize things as much as it is having the structured freedom to capture my thoughts. I tend to do a lot of mind mapping and visual note taking, so I really needed a good system on paper to benefit my workflow.

I modeled the layout after the ActionMethod books, but added some custom fields and treatment to the overall layout. I've also applied the same structure to Moleskines using the Hand Drawn line and added the additional element of colored stickers to assign tasks.

Anyway, GTD is a great process, and I just wanted to remind people of the beauty of paper when capturing those drifting thoughts and conversations.